Which of the following is NOT a Public good ?

Correct — option (3), Cars.

NCERT's Class XII textbook Introductory Macroeconomics (2026-27 reprint), in its chapter on the government budget, draws this very line. It gives "national defence, roads, government administration etc." as examples of public goods, and "clothes, cars, food items etc." as private goods.

Two features separate them. A public good is non-rivalrous: one person's consumption does not reduce the amount available to others. It is also non-excludable: there is no feasible way of keeping anyone from its benefits.

A car fails both tests. While one person uses a car, others cannot use that car, and a seller can refuse it to anyone who does not pay.

Three options are NCERT's own examples of public goods, and the fourth, cars, is its example of a private good.

The idea to remember: non-rival and non-excludable makes a good public; a car is neither.

Why the others are wrong

• (1)
  Government Administration — NCERT lists government administration among its examples of public goods. Its benefits reach everyone at once, and no one can practically be shut out of them.

  NCERT explains that the market cannot supply such goods through exchange between buyers and sellers, so the government provides them through the budget.

• (2)
  National Defence — National defence is the first example of a public good in NCERT's list. The protection one resident receives does not reduce the protection left for others.

  No resident can be kept out of it for not paying, so a private seller would find it difficult to collect a fee for it, and the budget pays instead.

• (4)
  Roads — NCERT names roads among its examples of public goods, alongside national defence and government administration.

  NCERT also separates provision from production: public goods may be produced by the government or the private sector, but public provision means they are financed through the budget and used without direct payment.

Two questions sort a good. Is it rivalrous, so that one person's use leaves less for others? Is it excludable, so that a non-payer can be kept out? NCERT contrasts private goods, which are both, with public goods, which are neither.

Because a public good is non-excludable, NCERT says it is difficult and sometimes impossible to collect fees. Users who enjoy it without paying are called free-riders, and private enterprise will in general not provide such goods.

That gap is the allocation function of the budget: the government provides what the market will not. NCERT pairs it with two other functions, redistribution and stabilisation.

Provision and production differ. Public provision means financing through the budget; public production means the government itself makes the good.

Key facts

• NCERT gives national defence, roads and government administration as examples of public goods.
• NCERT gives clothes, cars and food items as examples of private goods.
• Non-rivalrous: one person's consumption of a public good does not reduce the amount available to others.
• Non-excludable: there is no feasible way of excluding anyone from a public good's benefits; non-paying users are called free-riders.
• Public goods may be produced by the government or the private sector; public provision means they are financed through the budget.

Common traps

• Treating anything many people use as a public good: a cinema hall serves many viewers, but NCERT's example shows it can keep out anyone without a ticket.
• Confusing who produces a good with what kind of good it is: public goods may be produced by private firms and still be publicly provided.
• Checking only one test: a public good must be both non-rivalrous and non-excludable.

UnlockIAS compared this question with questions from other RAS Prelims papers and found none similar enough to link.

• practice — not a real PYQ

  The feature of a public good by which one person's consumption does not reduce the amount available for others is called

  • (a)non-excludability
  • (b)non-rivalry
  • (c)free riding
  • (d)public production
  Answer(2) — NCERT calls this non-rivalrous consumption. Option (1) is the other feature, that no one can feasibly be kept out; option (3) describes users who benefit without paying; option (4) means the government itself produces the good.
• practice — not a real PYQ

  Users who enjoy the benefits of a public good without paying for it are known as

  • (a)free-riders
  • (b)rent-seekers
  • (c)price-takers
  • (d)dissavers
  Answer(1) — NCERT calls non-paying users of a public good free-riders. Option (2) describes those seeking income without producing anything; option (3) describes firms that cannot influence price; option (4) describes those spending more than their income.